chessbase india logo

Pavel Ponkratov wins 1st Guwahati GM Open, Nitin S third

by Shahid Ahmed - 21/03/2022

Top seed of the tournament GM Pavel Ponkratov won the 1st Guwahati International GM Open 2022. Both Ponkratov and GM Fawzy Adham (EGY) scored 8.5/10, however the former edged passed the latter on tie-breaks. IM Nitin S is the best Indian performer of the event. He scored 8.0/10 and secured third place on tie-breaks. FM Aradhya Garg delivered a phenomenal performance to score 8.0/10, earn his final IM-norm and secure fourth place. A last round loss gave IM C R G Krishna a sixth place finish. IM P Shyam Nikhil, GM Visakh N R and GM Iniyan P secured eighth, ninth and tenth place finish scoring 7.5/10 each. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aradhya Garg scores his final IM-norm

FM Aradhya Garg scored 8.0/10, performed at 2465 and gained 62.2 Elo rating points to earn his final IM-norm. The former National Junior champion took a no-draw approach, his two hat-tricks include wins over GM Karthik Venkataraman, GM Masoud Mosadeghpour, IM Himal Gusain and IM Sayantan Das.

Top 3 (L to R) - 3rd IM Nitin S 8.0/10, 1st GM Pavel Ponkratov 8.5/10 and 2nd GM Fawzy Adham 8.5/10 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹15,00,000. Top three prizes were ₹251000, ₹201000 and ₹150000 each respectively. Bimal Bora, Minister of Sports & Youth Welfare, Cultural Affairs, Tourism and Power of Assam, Bharat Singh Chauhan, AICF Hony. Secretary were present at the closing ceremony among other guests.

Champion - GM Pavel Ponkratov 8.5/10 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Runner-up - GM Fawzy Adham (EGY) 8.5/10 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Second Runner-up - IM Nitin Senthilvel 8.0/10 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Neuris - Pavel: 0-1

Paraguay no.1 GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez (2622) went wrong at the very end of the rook endgame. GM Pavel Ponkratov (2641) seized his opportunity.

Position after 32.Kf2

32.Kf2 allowed Black to maneuver his rook 32...Rh3 33.Kg2 Rh5 and now the g5-pawn drops. There is no way to defend it. Thus, 34.Rxd4 Rxg5+ was played and rest was just a matter of technique for Black to convert it into a win. 32.Kg2 d3 34.Rd4 should have led to a draw as Black does not gain the g5-pawn easily. White should be more than happy to exchange his a2-pawn for the d3-pawn because 2 vs 3 pawns on the kingside is an easy theoretical draw.

"Love Chess, Play Chess" - Pavel Ponkratov on winning 1st Guwahati International Tournament 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Top seed Pavel Ponkratov got the better of Neuris Delgado Ramirez | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Fawzy - Krishna: 1-0

IM C R G Krishna (2466) was unable to get out of the gate against GM Adham Fawzy (EGY, 2490). The former went wrong early in the opening and could not get back for the rest of the game.

Adham Fawzy finishes 2nd in Guwahati, recounts his amazing game against Ratnakaran | Video: ChessBase India

A last round loss cost C R G Krishna a podium finish | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Nitin - Ratnakaran: 1-0

IM Ratnakaran K (2316) went for a break in an interesting position against IM Nitin S (2427).

Position after 20...e5

20...e5 is not a good idea as 21.dxe5 Bxe5 22.Nc4 Qb8 23.Na5 and Black cannot save the c6-pawn. The d5-pawn also fell in the next few moves and Black lost an exchange. Nitin cleverly returned the exchange, to neutralize the deadly bishop at b6. Rest was just a matter of time before Black resigned.

Facing your good friend in the final round - IM Nitin S finishes third | Video: ChessBase India

Nitin's resounding win over Ratnakaran earned him a third place finish | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aradhya - Sayantan: 1-0

IM Sayantan Das (2459) had a tough finish. He lost his second game in-a-row. FM Aradhya Garg (2236) scored an important win in the last round to finish fourth and secure his final IM-norm.

Position after 42.Rf5

It is a critical moment for Black. 42...c4 would have kept things in balance. 42...Rb4 completely changed the outcome 43.f4 and now c4 does not have the same effect. 44.bxc4 gxf4+ 45.Rxf4 Rxa4 46.c5 White is completely winning.

Aradhya Garg scores his final IM norm at the Guwahati GM International 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Aradhya Garg finished his tournament on a fantastic note | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Best Female 1st - WGM Srija Seshadri 6.5/10 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Best Female 2nd - WIM Franco Angela Valencia 6.5/10 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
The search for the first WGM of North East India | Father of Arshiya Das, Purnendu Das | Video: ChessBase India
Guwahati GM International 2022 - Finale | Video: ChessBase India

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 10

IM Nitin S - IM Ratnakaran K: 1-0

Akshay Borgaonkar - Kaustuv Kundu: 0.5-0.5

For more Round 10 and Prize distribution ceremony photos, please click at the respective links.

 

A total of 254 players including 13 GMs, 16 IMs, 2 WGMs and 3 WIMs took part from 11 federations across the world including India. The tournament was organized by All Assam Chess Association from 14th to 20th March 2022 at Guwahati, Assam. The ten-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay Round 10 games

Round 10 results

Bo.No. NameGrTypRtgPts.ResultPts.NameGrTypRtg No.
12
GMDelgado Ramirez Neuris26220 - 1GMPonkratov Pavel2641
1
28
GMFawzy Adham24901 - 0IMKrishna C R G2466
13
33
GMVisakh N R25227½ - ½7IMSidhant Mohapatra2359
25
434
FMAradhya Garg223671 - 07IMDas Sayantan2459
14
519
IMNitin S.242771 - 07IMRatnakaran K.2316
26
64
GMDeepan Chakkravarthy J.2520½ - ½GMSaptarshi Roy2402
22
75
GMStany G.A.25171 - 0GMKarthikeyan P.2397
24
86
GMIniyan P25161 - 0IMSai Agni Jeevitesh J2316
27
918
IMAbdisalimov Abdimalik24350 - 1GMKarthik Venkataraman2485
9
1010
IMRaahul V S24781 - 0WGMDivya Deshmukh2301
29
1128
Dhananjay S23100 - 1GMMirzoev Azer2476
11
1215
GMRios Cristhian Camilo2449½ - ½FMAaryan Varshney2277
32
1316
IMNigmatov Ortik24451 - 0IMManish Anto Cristiano F2236
33
1417
IMShyaamnikhil P24421 - 0WGMSrija Seshadri2219
37
1550
Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma U20226½ - ½6GMMosadeghpour Masoud2511
7
1612
IMTahbaz Arash246961 - 06Imocha LaishramNE-A2049
47
1720
Gholami Orimi Mahdi242061 - 06Kumar Gaurav2025
49
1852
Arnav MaheshwariU1520106½ - ½6IMGusain Himal2408
21
1954
Imtiaz Islam BoraNE-A20046½ - ½6IMShahil DeyNEU152400
23
2056
Borgaonkar AkshayU1519856½ - ½6Kaustuv Kundu2281
31

Details

Final standings

Rk.SNo NameTypsexGrFEDRtgIPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
11
GMPonkratov PavelCFR26418,564,569,557,750,07
28
GMFawzy AdhamEGY24908,562,066,555,250,08
319
IMNitin S.IND24278,059,064,550,500,07
434
FMAradhya GargIND22368,059,063,047,000,08
52
GMDelgado Ramirez NeurisPAR26227,565,571,051,750,06
613
IMKrishna C R GIND24667,562,067,048,000,06
711
GMMirzoev AzerAZE24767,561,565,546,250,07
817
IMShyaamnikhil PIND24427,561,066,047,750,05
93
GMVisakh N RIND25227,561,065,548,250,06
106
GMIniyan PIND25167,559,565,046,750,06
1125
IMSidhant MohapatraIND23597,559,563,546,000,06
125
GMStany G.A.IND25177,558,563,046,250,06
139
GMKarthik VenkataramanIND24857,558,063,045,500,07
1416
IMNigmatov OrtikUZB24457,555,559,545,000,07
1510
IMRaahul V SIND24787,553,057,542,250,07
1626
IMRatnakaran K.IND23167,064,569,046,250,06
1714
IMDas SayantanIND24597,063,067,043,750,06
1815
GMRios Cristhian CamiloCOL24497,061,065,544,500,05
194
GMDeepan Chakkravarthy J.IND25207,057,062,041,750,05
2032
FMAaryan VarshneyIND22777,057,061,539,750,05
2112
IMTahbaz ArashIRI24697,056,561,040,250,06
2220
Gholami Orimi MahdiIRI24207,056,060,539,250,06
2322
GMSaptarshi RoyIND24027,054,558,539,250,05
2451
FMGaikwad SiddhantIND20167,053,057,036,500,07
2553
Singh Soram RahulNE-AIND20067,052,556,536,000,07
2645
Mahindrakar IndrajeetIND20597,051,055,037,000,07
2731
Kaustuv KunduIND22816,563,569,043,000,04
2818
IMAbdisalimov AbdimalikUZB24356,560,565,039,000,05
2921
IMGusain HimalIND24086,560,564,037,500,05
307
GMMosadeghpour MasoudIRI25116,559,064,540,250,04
3127
IMSai Agni Jeevitesh JIND23166,559,063,539,250,06
3223
IMShahil DeyU15NEIND24006,559,063,538,250,06
3328
Dhananjay SIND23106,558,563,540,000,05
3435
FMPoormosavi Seyed KianIRI22296,558,563,538,250,06
3524
GMKarthikeyan P.IND23976,558,062,537,000,05

Details